NCAA Preview 2013: Colgate

Colgate has two scrimmages in the books, heading to Delaware and playing the Blue Hens even two Saturdays ago before edging Albany by one in a five-quarter outing vs. Albany last weekend. It's now game week for coach Mike Murphy's squad as they prepare for Bryant on Saturday.

In his second season, Murphy is entering this preseason with more familiarity than last year, but the surroundings are still unique in Hamilton as the Raiders are coming off the best season in program history, finishing 14-4 and advancing to the NCAA Quarterfinals via a first-round upset over UMass before falling to Duke.

Replacing Jeff Ledwick

One of the five things to know in last year’s Colgate preview was “Rounding out the Midfield.” Within that section, Murphy had this to say of senior Jeff Ledwick: “Jeff has been a matchup nightmare at 6-2 or 6-3, 210 pounds, he's one of our strongest guys — benches over 300 pounds. On a slide-and-recovery drill, he ran through both guys. I was fortunate enough to watch Garrett Thul grow up, and he looked a bit like that.”

Ledwick went on to put up 47 points and was a key figure to keeping pressure off of Peter Baum and Ryan Walsh (though, their presence probably made life a little easier for him, too).

Well, the question this year is similar as Raiders offensive coordinator Mike Abbott looks for an option to carry that type of weight from the midfield. While Murphy doubts one guy can fill the whole role, a few options present themselves.

Among the upperclass options is senior Matt Baker, who finished with 16 goals and 10 assists last year and has room for improvement if he elevates his 22% shooting percentage. Another option is sophomore Matt Clarkson, who had five goals and nine assists last season and Murphy sees Clarkson as a prime candidate to make a sophomore leap

“He has really come on as a dodging midfielder,” Murphy says. “I remember our season meeting after Duke and Matt was not good, very scoutable, and he’s come back with a chip on his shoulder.”

Among the other candidates are junior captain Jimmy Ryan, sophomore Conor Braddish and freshman Cam Williams.

The Goalie Situation

One of the most remarkable developments for Colgate last season was the late-season switch from Jared Madison to Conor Murphy in net after Madison, who’d been quietly playing back injury for much of the season that hampered his performance though, as Murphy says “We got everything we could get out of [him] last year.”

As a result, it made sense when, during last month’s Patriot League conference call, that a reporter assumed the goalie job was Murphy’s heading into the season. Mike Murphy said not so fast, and a pair of freshmen in Jake Danehy and Gordon Santry held down the fort when the junior sat out the Delaware scrimmage with an injury.

“All three have played really well,” Mike Murphy said. “Conor Murphy has come back with a purpose. I didn’t know that I felt that way in the fall. He was still kinda trying… I don’t know exactly what he was trying to do. … Gordon Santry and Jake Danehy are giving him a run for his money, it’s a little bit ‘Which way is the wind blowing?’ It’s going to be a battle to the Friday before Bryant and I think that makes us a better team.”

Offensive Prowess

In Peter Baum, Ryan Walsh and Brendon McCann, the Raiders return their starting attack and 191 points from last season. That’s an impressive starting point, and it’s likely to be the backbone for Colgate as they figure out the goalie and first midfield.

That said, the Raiders seem to know that opposing defensive coordinators likely spent the offseason trying to figure out how to slow the trio down, and as a result the attack will have to be better in order to approach those numbers.

Murphy says he likes the way his offense, led by Baum, has approached getting better in the spring. He cited one meeting last week before practice when Baum came to him and said Colgate was focusing too much on the defense. “You like seeing that kind of fire in your offensive star,” Murphy says.

Defensive Scheming

Murphy is a defense-first coach, and he works closely with assistant Joe Starsia at that end of the field for the Raiders. With a year under his belt, Murphy and Starsia have more familiarity with their personnel, and the players are better acquainted with the scheme. It should mean Colgate gets up and running faster this spring.

“Guys are starting to understand more of what’s expected of them there. It’s more of an attitude thing. We’ve been fairly happy, but I don’t know that I’ll ever be super-satisfied.”

In junior Bobby Lawrence, Colgate has a bona fide No. 1; a guy who can take on tough matchups, get the ball on and up off the ground, carry upfield and spark transition. Classmate Kevin Boyle and senior captain Jimmy Queeney return as starters at the close defense, while sophomore Matt Yeager played a lot in matchups last year and freshman and former Canadian U-19 defender Leo Stouros provide depth that, as Murphy says, means his D doesn’t have to play 60 minutes.

A Blank Slate

Coming off a program-best season, battling complacency can be a big challenge. To battle that, Murphy says he’s not talking to his team about “repeating” last season in any way. He says that losing in the NCAA Quarterfinals wasn’t that big of a deal because it wasn’t their goal to make it to the second round. He expects his team to be motivated to be better.

“I reminded my guys we were fortunate to be where we were,” Murphy says. “We have a group of seniors, as decorated as they are, they don’t have any hardware. My question is, What do you want your legacy to be, do you want to be the bridesmaid or do you want to be the bride? Last year showed what kind of effort needs to be undertaken to do the things you want to do. But, a dollar and last year gets us a cup of coffee.”

Best Bet: Peter Baum, Sr., Attack
The reigning Tewaaraton winner and the No. 1 pick in the MLL Draft. There aren’t many teams that have a surer “best bet” than a guy who put up 67 goals and 30 assists last year.

Sleeper Pick: Robby Grabher, Sr., Face-Off Middie
While Grabher was huge for Raiders in winning 55% of his face-offs last season and picking up 132 groundballs, perhaps the most significant aspect of that accomplishment was taking over the draw responsibilities and heading to the X more than 400 times after taking only 35 face-offs a year prior, when he won 49%. Another jump in his senior season could make Grabher an even more essential of Colgate’s arsenal.